Inmate ‘admits’ to killing Geneva prison therapist

Fabrice Anthamatten, 39, was extradited last week to Switzerland from Poland where he was arrested after fleeing Geneva three months ago.

Suspected of murdering Adeline Morel, a 34-year-old mother of an eight-month child, Anthamatten admits to having killed Morel and wants to cooperate with authorities, the Tribune de Genève said.

The suspect was interviewed by justice authorities for 10 hours last Friday when he acknowledged being the “author” of Morel’s death, although he maintained he didn’t want to kill her, the newspaper said.

The Tribune said Anthamatten confirmed this on Saturday in statements made before Geneva attorney-general Olivier Jornot.

A two-time convicted rapist, Anthamatten was serving a 20-year sentence when he was allowed out on a day release with Morel.

Her body was found on September 12th in the woods near an equestrian centre where she was supposed to be escorting Anthamatten for a therapy session.

Authorities later acknowledged that Anthamatten should have never been released alone in Morel’s custody.

The case has sparked a national debate about whether prisoners are being treated too leniently and Geneva authorities have promised changes to tighten regulations.

The inmate used the prison car driven by Morel to flee to Poland where he planned to join up with a former mistress, the Tribune said.

He was arrested on September 15th.

In other developments, Anthamatten wrote a letter in French to the German-language newspaper SonntagsBlick in which he offered to tell his version of what happened for 1,600 francs, the weekly said.

He wrote that he had received an offer of 1,500 francs from one of the paper’s competitors and promised to recount the final word’s of his victim.

In the letter, he blamed a psychiatrist for allowing him to be released on a day outing, SonntagsBlick said.

His lawyers, Gérald Benoit and Yann Arnold, will be requesting a psychiatric assessment of their client to determine his degree of responsibility, the Tribune said.